Latest news with #Noye
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
I've seen true face of killer Kenneth Noye… he's a ruthless thug who sent me a chilling threat & The Gold is a whitewash
TO viewers of the hit TV drama The Gold, he comes across as a loveable rogue who helped launder the bullion stolen in one of the UK's most infamous heists. And Advertisement 12 Kenny Noye pictured after his release in 2019 Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd 12 Jack Lowden stars as Kenny Noye in the BBC drama Credit: BBC 12 Stephen Cameron was stabbed to death by Noye in 1996 Credit: PA:Press Association The BBC series centres on the 1983 I've been asked many times who the real Advertisement Well, I've penned three bestselling true crime books about Britain's most notorious criminal and his associates - and I have little doubt he's one of the most ruthless villains this country has ever seen. In fact, I've even been on the receiving end of a chilling threat from Noye himself. Yet today, this convicted killer is flirting with fame and The Gold has become the latest chapter in his alleged rehabilitation programme. He's turning into a celebrity criminal, which must be devastating for so many of his victims and their families. As police hunted down the missing millions, Noye killed undercover cop John Fordham in the garden of his Kent mansion in 1985 - although he was acquitted of murder after claiming he believed the police officer was a hitman. Advertisement He was later jailed for the brutal road rage murder of innocent motorist Stephen Cameron, 21, in 1996. But following Noye's 2019 release from prison, he launched his own one-man public relations campaign, which has included a series of carefully orchestrated public appearances. This once self-styled invisible man of the underworld turned up at a Then he attended an art gallery which featured a portrait of him perched atop a pile of gold bars. And he even 'unofficially' co-operated with a well known TV documentary-maker for a crime series, as well as contributing to a true crime biography about him. Advertisement Kenneth Noye speaks on camera for first time since being freed from jail 12 Noye in custody after the killing of Stephen Cameron Credit: PA:Press Association 12 Noye wrote this threatening message in Wensley's book Credit: Supplied Yet only a few years earlier - while serving the life sentence for the murder of Stephen Cameron – Noye had scribbled out a threatening note inside a book I'd written about him, which was passed to me by a concerned prison officer. In it, Noye had written: 'I'm certainly no killer. Wensley Clarkson has published loads of lies about me in his books and caused untold damage. The tables will turn one day. "All the very best - Ken Noye.' Advertisement Framed claims Noye was sentenced to life in 2000 for the murder of Stephen Cameron - who he stabbed to death on a motorway slip road in Swanley, Kent. For more than thirty years, Noye had insisted that 'the cozzers' had fitted him up for both the killings he'd committed because of his links to the Brinks-Mat gold. Yet having threatened me and insisted he'd killed no one, Noye - the convicted murderer - convinced the parole board he was a changed man. And in 2019, he was released for 'good behaviour'. By all accounts, Advertisement The real Noye is a workaholic criminal who goes after anyone who crosses him, including the innocent road rage victim. One old school villain I know recently tried to convince me Noye was a changed man after months of therapy in prison, which had helped convince the parole board to release him after he'd served a 16-year minimum tariff sentence. The real Noye is a workaholic criminal who goes after anyone who crosses him Wensley Clarkson But it seems more likely that slippery Noye used therapy as a passport to freedom because he's clearly not one to dwell on the past. It is said that the makers of The Gold were so worried about Noye suing them, it's alleged they persuaded him to sign off on a sanitised version of himself, which left numerous unanswered questions about that road rage killing and Noye's time on the run in Spain. Typical Kenny Noye. Always in control. Advertisement 12 Police attend the scene of the Brinks-Mat robbery near Heathrow Credit: Rex 12 Officer John Fordham was stabbed to death in the grounds Credit: PA:Press Association Lion 'guard' at home When Noye and gold smelter John 'Goldfinger' Palmer were turning that stolen bullion into cash, following the Brink's-Mat robbery, he was smart enough to join the Freemasons after being nominated by a friendly police officer. This enabled him to stay one step ahead of Kent Police, where several officers were believed to be masons. In the days, weeks and months after the robbery, Noye emerged as the ultimate criminal fixer. He'd even hidden some of the gold in a pit he dug at the end of his garden 'for a rainy day'. Advertisement Later, Noye told one veteran detective I know that he presumed no one would dare come looking for that gold because he kept a lion prowling freely around the grounds of his home. Noye's neighbours had heard numerous stories about the lion but none of them were brave (or stupid) enough to tell the police anything about it. 12 Noye went to the exhibition which contained his portrait Credit: 12 Noye's Kent mansion was said to have a lion roaming the grounds Credit: Jim Bennett 12 Police comb the grounds of Noye's home after the attack on John Fordham Credit: Rex Advertisement Meanwhile country gent Kenneth Noye donated handfuls of cash to local charities and even held a couple of fetes in the grounds of his immaculate mansion. And when he finally got nicked for handling the gold, he tried to bribe decent, honest Brink's-Mat chief investigator Brian Boyce - portrayed so well by Hugh Bonneville in The Gold – with a Freemason handshake and a million pounds. Noye always claimed back then that he hated the notoriety that came with the Brink's-Mat gold. Yet while on the run in Spain - where he fled after the fatal road rage attack - he kept a copy of my first book about him, Public Enemy Number One, on the passenger seat at all time and would show it off to anyone travelling in his car. When Noye was first released from prison back in 2019, I resisted the temptation to drag his name back into the limelight, despite the public uproar from many who continued to see him as Public Enemy Number One and felt he should never have been let out of jail. Advertisement But then one old lag I know told me he'd seen a photo of 'reformed criminal' Noye taken in a bar in his beloved Kent a couple of years after his release. Either side of him were two of the region's most notorious drug lords. Noye was no different from the ruthless, criminal mastermind who'd been found not guilty of murdering policeman John Fordham in the garden of his Kent mansion, after claiming he acted in self-defence. I once asked an associate of his if Noye had ever talked about what had happened the night the undercover officer died. 'Kenny just said it was kill or be killed,' said his associate. 'He got away with that one, but it was only going to be a matter of time before he'd lose it again.' That happened on the M25 where Noye ended up murdering Stephen Cameron in the heart of the criminal's home county of Kent. Advertisement 12 The Sun reports the road rage attack in 1996 Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd 12 Danielle witnessed her fiance's murder Credit: PA:Press Association Stephen's heartbroken family and 17-year-old Danielle Cable - who saw her fiancé knifed to death on an intersection - have never fully recovered from what Noye did that day. They suffered so much heartbreak that Stephen's 75-year-old father Kenneth killed himself in 2022. The family must have been stunned the following year when Noye issued a public apology to them and Danielle, insisting she was 'safe' from any reprisals. Advertisement He even denied allegations made by detectives that he'd paid a hitman to kill Danielle when he was on the run in Spain. And now The Gold has once again obliged them to re-live it all over again. Whatever the truth of about the current status of Kenneth Noye, no doubt this won't be the last we will be hearing from him. Public Enemy Number One – The Life and Crimes of Kenneth Noye by Wensley Clarkson is published by John Blake
Wales Online
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Inside Kenneth Noye's life post Brink's-Mat heist as BBC's The Gold returns
Inside Kenneth Noye's life post Brink's-Mat heist as BBC's The Gold returns Kenneth Noye was a key player in BBC's The Gold The Gold season two will be hitting screens today (June 8), airing this evening on BBC One at 9pm, as well as being available as a boxset on the BBC iPlayer, reports the Express. The story will see the investigation into the remaining half of the stolen Brink's-Mat gold and the police pursuit for justice to recover the huge haul. The Gold delves into the events surrounding the heist, where a group of armed men accidentally discovered £26million in gold bullion while attempting to rob the Brink's-Mat security depot near Heathrow Airport. Many of the main players from the first outing will be back in the frame, including criminal Kenneth Noye (played by Jack Lowden). Viewers are eager to learn more about the real-life story behind the world's largest heist and the subsequent fates of some of the key figures portrayed in the TV series, including Noye. The Gold is based on the real-life Brink's-Mat heist (Image: BBC ) Article continues below What happened to Kenneth Noye? After Brink's-Mat Noye was handed a 14-year prison sentence for his involvement in the robbery and was ordered to pay fines totalling £500,000 along with £200,000 in costs. However, he was released from prison in 1994 after serving just eight years of his sentence. In 1996, Noye fatally stabbed another motorist on an M25 slip road in Kent before fleeing the country. Two years later, he was located living in Spain and extradited to face trial for the crime. During the trial, Noye maintained that he had acted in self-defence during a fight with the victim, Stephen Cameron. After being found guilty by a jury, he was given a life sentence but was released on licence in 2019. Noye was filmed publicly speaking for the first time in 2023 when he commented on a portrait of himself sitting on a pile of gold bars, The Sun reported. Jack Lowden as Kenneth Noye in The Gold (Image: BBC ) In the video, Noye praised the painting which put a light spin on his involvement in the Brink's-Mat robbery. The painting also depicted a smelter in the background on one side and an aeroplane jetting off to a sunny location on the other. Former drug lord Stephen Mee painted the picture in 2011, with the artist and Noye discussing it at an exhibition held by the charity the AP Foundation to assist rehabilitating offenders. True crime author, journalist and writer Clarkson commented on the portrayal of Noye in the BBC series back in 2023: "He's a lot shorter than the actor. He is very down to earth and he is two people like most criminals. The Gold season 2 sees the return of Kenneth Noye (Image: BBC ) "He is at least two people. There's a fun bloke who loves partying, who's very good with - in his parlance - 'the birds' - and he's a good neighbour." Clarkson continued: "But the other side of him was the cold-blooded criminal, who we know all about, who's killed two people separately." Speaking about Noye's life post-prison, Clarkson said: "He gets out and is working on a book and he's going from being a reclusive criminal, who hates journalists, to the Prince Harry of the underworld, basically." Regarding Noye's apparent change of heart, the author stated: "He seems to have changed his complete attitude." Clarkson stated: "He was anti-journalists, reclusive, workaholic - renowned as a criminal workaholic who loves a scheme, loves a deal, going back to before Brink's-Mat." He continued: "But now, we're supposed to accept he's rehabilitated. I'll leave that for others to decide if he has and he also wants to be a bit of a celebrity - that surprised me enormously." Clarkson added: "For him, it's something he's thought through very carefully because he does nothing - apart from killing people - without thinking very carefully about it." Jack Lowden as Kenneth Noye in The Gold (Image: BBC ) The author argued that the BBC drama had portrayed real-life figures like Noye and Johnny Palmer in a softer light, transforming them into "likely lads" and "almost happy-go-lucky" characters. However, he noted that in some respects, the show did get surprisingly close to the true story. Clarkson pointed out smaller inaccuracies, such as the interior of Noye's house appearing more "lord of the manor" than the actual shag pile carpets and beige decor in his real home, which Clarkson had seen. He concluded: "I want to be more critical of the show than I really feel I can be. I didn't watch it for a bit. I could have watched it ages ago. Article continues below "But then I realised it is good and I realised that most people who watch TV are in their 60s and this seems to appeal to them. But there's another market that finds it fascinating because of the era in which it's set and the attitudes and the differences and even the retro outfits." The Curse of Brink's-Mat by Wensley Clarkson is available to buy now The Gold seasons 1 & 2 are streaming on the BBC iPlayer now
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Aussie city's new traffic light feature sparks debate: 'Overkill'
An Aussie city's 'amazing' new road feature has sparked debate among locals, with some drivers hitting out at the 'ridiculous' addition. A bicycle head-start light has been installed at an intersection in the heart of Hobart, allowing those who prefer to travel on two wheels a little leeway. The recent move is part of the city council's two-year trial project to improve a 700-metre stretch of Collins Street, which also includes additional separate bicycle lanes, roadside dining areas and parking spaces. Authorities have also requested a slower speed limit for the busy stretch. 'Collins Street has been identified and prioritised for pedestrian and cycling use as outlined in the Inner Hobart Transport Network Operations Plan," Neil Noye, City of Hobart's director of strategic and regulatory services, told Yahoo News. It's a joint project between the Tasmanian Government and the City of Hobart. 'The installed lights on Collins Street — as part of the two-year Transforming Collins Street trial — at the intersection of Harrington and Barrack streets provide greater safety for all road users by allowing cyclists to clear the intersection first before vehicles get their green light," Noye said The head-start traffic light has already been praised online, with 'stoked' locals sharing their excitement over the 'start of better things to come in Tassie'. Bicycle Network Tasmania said the addition 'enables people riding and walking to get ahead of the traffic and be seen by turning vehicles'. However, not everyone is convinced, with drivers arguing they have been stuck waiting 'for the cyclists lights without a bike in sight'. 'Overkill and another car delay system,' one man said. Bicycle head-start lights have been used in Australia for more than a decade and are 'very common in Melbourne', a spokesperson for Bicycle Network, the country's biggest bike riding organisation, told Yahoo. 'There was a time when crashes were common — the light would turn green, the bikes would shoot of across the intersection, but a car would run left and strike the people on bikes going straight ahead,' they said. The signal was developed to 'give bikes several seconds to get out ahead where the drivers who were turning left could see them'. 'It has proven a very successful initiative in terms reducing crashes,' the spokesperson said. Similarly, road safety authorities have implemented bicycle boxes where cyclists can position themselves in front of queued cars at a red light, also providing them with an advantage at an intersection. 'This is used where there is no head start phase: when the lights for all traffic turn green, bikes are several metres ahead of the car lanes. And the effect is similar to head-starts — a reduction in crashes between bikes and cars at the start of the green phase,' the spokesperson told Yahoo. 'There may be a short period of adjustment for road users in Hobart, but it will not be long before they intuitively understand the function, and it becomes a routine part of driving safely. We will eventually find that one or the other of these two solutions are universally used at most intersections on bikes routes in Australia.' 📸 Cyclist's heated exchange with driver over 'deliberate' roadside act 👮 'Unbelievable' moment cyclist swerves in front of driver draws police response 🛴 Aussie councils push for more $136 fines for 'dangerous' footpath act Cyclists and motorists have long battled it out on Aussie roads, with tensions often exploding between the two — including an amusing tussle involving a postie that was caught on camera last year. According to a survey conducted by the Tasmanian Government in 2023, there are a rising number of cyclists in Hobart, racking up 4,800 trips each day — a 50 per cent increase since 2019. At least 450 of those trips were conducted on Collins Street, the City of Hobart states on its website. 'Hobartians riding bikes is good for their health and good for motorists, as it results in less cars on the road and helps traffic flow better,' officials said. 'We know the number one barrier to more people taking up cycling or any form of active transport is safety, something which separated cycle lanes will help address.' Others states have also seen an increase in bike riders, with an average growth of about six per cent across the country, the Bicycle Network revealed last year. The largest increase in bicycle or e-bike commuting was recorded in Tasmania, followed by NSW. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
